


Archaeologist Jones

by XxMusicxKelseyxX



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Indiana Jones AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-29 04:39:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11433342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxMusicxKelseyxX/pseuds/XxMusicxKelseyxX
Summary: Professor Jughead Jones is an adventurous archaeologist who has been enlisted to recover the Necklace of Harmonia hidden in the lost island of Themyscira in Greece. He must retrieve it with the help of Elizabeth "Betty" Cooper at the request of one Veronica Andrews and their tour guide Kevin Keller.





	Archaeologist Jones

Forsythe “Jughead” Jones did not have an easy childhood. More often than not, he found refuge in escaping through books. Romance, mystery, sci-fi, crime, non-fiction… it didn’t matter. One time he read a mathematics textbook front to back just so that he wouldn’t have to listen to his parents fight. It bothered his sister Jellybean and made his sheepdog Hotdog whimper, so he shared his secret escape and started reading to them, too. It was how he discovered his three great passions in life: writing, understanding history, and helping others. This realization changed the course of his life.

So about twenty years later, there he was working as a Professor of History and Archeology at University of Riverdale, one of the most prestigious post secondary institutions in the state. It worked out splendidly because he got to instill the next generation with the fascinating facts of the past. By coincidence, his childhood best friend Archie Andrews happened to be the principal and his wife’s family happened to own the school. Life was good and his job was flexible enough to go on adventures. This brings us to now.

Jughead Jones was paged to the office of Archie Andrews. Despite being pals, this was not a regular occurance, which made Jughead nervous. He came in to see Archie humming and hawing over paperwork, frustrated that he didn’t go into teaching so he could do sports or music instead of his leadership role that felt much too administrative.

“Ah yes, Jug, my friend. Do sit down, I’ve brought you a sandwich.” Jughead strode to the desk cautiously, lured by the promise of food, but intelligent enough to know it was an offering and with an offering came a favour.

“What am I doing in exchange for the sandwich, Mr Andrews?” He opened it up and inspected it. He was going to take full stock of the situation before committing to either side. It was a dagwood sandwich with all the fixings. This made the offer very alluring. He had two weaknesses: Jellybean, and food. His Achilles’ heel of sorts.

“Can’t I just call my friend over for lunch?” Archie tried to appear sincere but he was sweating like bullets.

“Just spit it out, Arch. You’ll have to tell me eventually anyways.”

“Okay so we got an anonymous tip. Have you ever heard of Themyscara?” Jughead arched an eyebrow at the question. “Okay, bad question, everyone loves Wonder Woman. Alright so in Greek legend, there was this necklace called the Necklace of Harmonia, named for its wearer Harmonia who was the illegitimate child of Ares and Aphrodite. Our tip says it’s in Themyscara, which nobody knows the location of but is most likely in Greece. If you could locate it with your brilliant adventuring skills, it would be an amazing edition to the museum.”

This was not Jughead’s first artifact recovery mission, and he never did them for profit like others in that field did. He simply wanted to bring more knowledge to the world. He had once went on a quest to find the alleged holy grail just to prove his religious mother wrong (she was religious and his father was atheist, which was a big factor in their fighting and subsequent divorce. Jughead didn’t believe in a god because what kind of god would put him and JB through all that?). He did, of course, find it but it got lost during an earthquake that started due to his movements disturbing the bedrock.

“You didn’t even have to get me a sandwich for this,” Mr Jones said as he took a bite out of it, preventing Mr Andrews from taking it back.

“Oh I knew you’d agree to go, it’s just the Riverdale Register has already caught wind of the story and Alice Cooper wants you to take her daughter Elizabeth Cooper with you. Alice is an old friend of your father’s and she already called him up hoping you’d do it as a favour to his as his favour to her.”

“Elizabeth Cooper, like the part time librarian?”

“Yes, but she’s also a student here taking classes on journalism, and a close personal friend. She lived in the house to the left of mine growing up. Please at least consider it.” Archie shook his held hands in front of him in a plea. Jughead rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Okay, but she better not get in the way. I don’t need help for adventures.”

“She’ll just be there to write about it, don’t worry. She’s friends with Ronnie anyways.”

The whole package was tucked neat in a bow: sponsored adventure of a lifetime with a dainty companion, or so he thought. He was just happy to unwrap another part of history.

He taught the rest of his classes for the day and went straight home to his library where he pulled out three books on Greek mythology. Scouring the indexes, he found the section on Harmonia. According to legend, this artifact he was after was cursed. The Necklace of Harmonia was said to make the wearer beautiful and youthful, but at the cost of severe misfortune. Harmonia and her husband were turned into snakes, her daughter questioned Zeus and was punished for it, and Oedipus fell for his birth mother due to the effects of the necklace which led to her suicide. The stories went on and on and they were more or less the same in every iteration. Jughead Jones scoffed at the idea, believing items to be cursed was mere superstition.

Before long he was at the train station to make his way to New York so he could fly out to Athens, Greece. Shortly after taking a seat a lady plopped down in a seat across from him. She wore glasses and had her hair up in a bun.

“Oh it’s you, Mr Jones,” she reached her hand out, but he did not shake it.

“Hair up high, mousy… are you Elizabeth Cooper by any chance?” The lady crinkled her nose.

“I’m decidedly not blonde, Forsythe. You should pay more attention to your colleagues as opposed to just books. Geraldine Grundy, music teacher.”

Jughead wondered if perhaps Elizabeth had missed the train. He wouldn’t have been disappointed if she did. Unfortunately, Geraldine was quite the talker, though she gave him the creeps. Something about her just felt off, but he brushed it aside for later, and spent the rest of the ride looking out the window and ignoring her.

He hailed a taxi from the train station to the airport and boarded the plane. This time he was seated next to an older gentleman who just wanted to sleep so Mr Jones dove into an intriguing book on Greco-Roman myth.

Upon landing, Mr Jones came upon a man holding a sign that read “Forsythe Jones” which caused Jughead to scowl. He loathed that name. Behind the man stood an angel with golden hair wearing a light pink peacoat. She wore her hair in a high ponytail and smiled gently, though Jug could see a fire in her eyes.

“Betty Cooper. I wanted to do this alone but Veronica insisted I have professional help.” She held out her hand to him, mirroring Gertrude’s gesture earlier, but this time he responded in kind.

“Professor Jones.”

“Yes, I know. I took your class on Neolithic studies as an elective last year.” He stood there for a moment looking pensive. “It’s okay that you don’t remember me. You have big classes with a lot of girls just trying to get your attention. I’m just plain old Betty Cooper.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, you’re also the librarian.”

“Part time.”

“And you wrote a thorough essay on Neolithic tools. I think you got the highest mark in the class, if I remember correctly.”

She blushed. Betty Cooper is not the kind of girl one can easily forget about.

“Alright well I’m Kevin Keller and I’m your guide and host. I’m actually from Riverdale too, but I came here for a field school trip and decided to stay indefinitely. Anyways, if you two will step into my funny looking NAMCO, then we can go.” He grabbed at Jug’s bag and it became apparent that Betty did not have any luggage with her. It was loaded into the passengers seat while Betty and Jug tightly fit into the back. Kevin got in the front and asked his passengers to buckle up as they began their bumpy drive to the Acropolis Museum Boutique Hotel.

Kevin handed him a room key and the three went their separate ways. While the Lodge family could easily afford it, Jones let out a breath of relief upon entering his room and finding it wasn’t some fancy suite. It was a simple room with a single bed.

A few minutes after he had put his suitcase down and finished organizing his things, the phone in his room let out a ring. His presence was requested in a nearby café. It was time. He threw on his brown leather jacket and brown fedora that was cut up to look similar to a whoopee cap. As a last minute decision, he grabbed his whip and secured it to his belt before taking off.

Kevin was nibbling a croissant and Betty had a plate with crumbs on it and was sipping on some tea.

“How are you two practically finished?”

“Well Veronica sent me a week early as a birthday present. It would have been too much, but it was related to the expedition so I eventually caved. She does not like to take no for an answer.”

Betty and Kevin talked like old friends while Jughead casually ate and observed. He had ordered an “American” sandwich, which I guess meant large. He was almost finished it when Betty pivoted on her chair and faced him.

“So what’s with the hat, professor?” She stole a fry that came with my sandwich off my plate.

“My father gave me it to me after I took off with my sister and dog for a few days as a kid. She cut it up like this and called it my adventure cap so I wear it when I go out.” He said it casually like it wasn’t a big deal but that was a lie. It was a very big deal. Dishes were smashed and he stole his mom’s credit card so they could stay in a hotel room instead of bothering the Andrews again. They were mad at first because hotels are expensive and money was another big point of tension, but even FP knew the kids deserved better than being in a house with adults who swore and threw things at each other. So he was given his dad’s hat. He was the man of the family even though he was just a kid, and that hat was a symbol of that. The fact that Jellybean cut it up just made it more endearing instead of angry.

Her eyes were warm. She expected an adventurous story, but family was far more precious to her. She moved to put her hand on top of his.

Soon the topic changed to where they were headed tomorrow. They were going to drive Northeast and explore the Aegean Sea, where this mythical place was supposed to reside. Betty was excited, causing Jughead to roll his eyes. This was what he was expecting.

“We’re not here to lounge on the beach and get a tan. We have a job to do.”

“First off, I don’t tan. If anything, I burn. I just am open to enjoying the sights while we explore. I’m not the stereotype of a blonde everyone keeps pidgeonholing me into.” She crossed her arms.

So things were off to a rocky start, but he should have given her more credit because when they arrived at the beach, the sight was breathtaking. He had always heard people talk about the shade cerulean and he always thought they were pretentious, but that was exactly the shade that the water was. Cerulean. And Betty was wearing a summer hat and huge glasses to avoid being burned as Kev drove them on a boat. He moved his hat down and let himself nap while they made headway.

It was getting dark but Kevin had marked their progress in the map. They decided to go below deck and just sleep on the boat. Unfortunately, when they got down there, there was only a large mattress. The men laid down and Betty plopped down between them. Somehow during the night she had rolled over into Jughead’s chest and he instinctively grabbed onto her in his sleep. By the morning, Kevin had to stifle a giggle. The pair that seemed to fight like cats and dogs by day had cuddled like lovebirds at night. He snapped a picture with his Polaroid and shoved the potentially offensive photo in a book once it dried.

When Betty woke up, she jolted out of the bed and stared down at him. He was a great teacher, and he looked so peaceful in his sleep, but he did not like working with her. Sh decided right there and then that she would change that. She was capable, dammit!

Eventually he woke up too, and the investigators scanned the horizon while Kevin grabbed some sandwiches from a bag he brought. As much as he loved the food, though, Jughead was starting to tire of bread and promised himself a steak dinner when all of this was over.

Suddenly the skies turned grey, something unusual for this area at this time of year. The water turned rapid, like the Atlantic, and Kevin made sure everyone was wearing a life jacket. They rolled over wave after wave until suddenly they hit one so big that the boat almost capsized, sending Elizabeth Cooper overboard.

Suddenly, a screachy melody broke out, causing Kevin to crinkle his nose in disgust. It lured Jones to the edge of the boat. On a nearby speck of land was a woman and Jughead demanded they set off to rescue her. Kevin complied only because he thought it was Elizabeth. The boat almost crashed into the rock as the lady, who turned into a nightmarish creature of half bird half woman, reached for Jones with her talons. The moment she touched him, he came to his senses and pulled out his gun, shooting her leg and narrowly escaping.

“We have to find Cooper, quickly!” The skies cleared and the water returned to its pristine crystal state, but the blonde was nowhere to be found. The two men panicked, primarily because both knew Veronica Andrews née Lodge would kill them.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, an arm shot out of the water, followed by a woman barely breathing. She was not there moments before, but there she was floating around.

“What the heck just happened?” Kevin was awestruck. Betty growled and gestured for the men to jump into the water. Kevin secured the boat and Jug grudgingly left his pistol behind since the gunpowder would be rendered useless in water.

They were forced to leave their lifejackets behind as they needed to dive. The men tried to follow Betty, but she just disappeared and then reappeared moments later looking frustrated.

Eventually she gave up on them and after rising to the surface for air, she simply pulled them through the veil. On this side, the water was warmed and the sun did shine a little brighter. The trio swam their way to the shore and Kevin stayed behind to they would know how to get back to the boat, much to the annoyance of Mr Jones. Betty just laughed. Kevin was helping her plan without even knowing it.

“These markings, they’re early greek script. I think we’re on the right path. C'mon.” They made their way through the tropical jungle. Suddenly they came to a clif where the island had split in two. There was remanents on a small bridge long gone. It was possible to jump across, but incredibly risky. Jughead Jones looked around for a better way. They would have to turn back and walk around if they weren’t going to make a jump for it. Another option was present, too, though. There was a large overhanging tree on the other end. If he could manage to get his whip secured to it, they could swing across. He glanced over at Betty who was biting her lip and trying to come up with her own plan.

“Do you trust me?” He held out his hand. She stared down at it and hesitated before she took it in hers. He sent the tip of his whip flying and it caught the branch just as he planned. “Hold on.” She threw her arms around his neck and clenched her eyes shut as he jumped and they swans across the crevice.

Her heart wouldn’t stop pounding and suddenly she could see why all the other girls in her class with him had tried to get his attention. However distracted she was, he didn’t notice as he pulled her along to a rocky wall with more writing.

“We’re getting close.” They carefully maneuvered across a small ledge until they came across an Ancient Greek piece of architecture. It looked well maintained, despite being thousands of years old. They made their way to the door when spears surrounded them, holding them in place.

“What is a man doing in Themyscara?” A fairly androgynous woman, with her left breast removed, questioned the two. They were surrounded by more women like her.

“We were sent to retrieve-”

“Shut up, we are talking to her!” The leader motioned her spear towards Betty.

“We are here for the Necklace of Harmonia. It is to be out on display so people can appreciate it as a piece of history.”

“Perhaps some of history is best left buried. No, you do not want the necklace.” She turned to her troop. “Alright, send him to the water but she goes to the village. Honestly, how did he even get past the sirens.”

The two were dragged apart and Betty kicked and screamed while Jughead growled and bid his time. He still had Kevin.

By the time they had reached the water, he had figured out how to maneuver around them, pushing them before they could attempt to drown him.

“Mr Jones, what’s going on?!” Kevin yelled.

“How much experience do you have with rescue?” Jones asked, ignoring the question.

“Slim to none.”

“Good. Well let’s go. Betty’s been captured by Amazons.”

The two walked around to the other side of the island and spotted the building from before. Behind it were stone cabins, where the women lived. They crept to the middle of it all. There was a giant stone slab with inscription on it and above that was Betty, all tied up.

“Join us.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a demand. The leader came up to the stone and held her spear to Miss Cooper’s chest, getting ready to perform an intricate ritual that would induct Betty into the Amazons at the cost of her left breast.

“Do not be afraid, child. This island is a paradise. There are no men here. You will live eternally here, and you can be happy.” She leaned down and stroked Elizabeth’s face as she slowly began the process. The stone lit up, and it was now clear that nighttime was drawing near.

She screamed as the spear made a clear cut through her shirt and underneath her bra. Suddenly Jughead Jones made a run for it. He whipped the spear out of the woman’s hand and made quick work of cutting the cords binding Betty to the stone. He held her bridal style, tears dripping down her face and blood trickling down her abdomen, as they were again surrounded.

“I don’t know what kind of sick game you’re playing at, lady, but you’re not maiming Betty.” He held out his knife as he held with his left hand, adrenaline pumping.

“Seize them.” Suddenly, Kevin found the courage to act and rammed himself right into the leader.

“Hippolita!” The women ran towards her and the three made their escape.

Upon reaching the shore, they noticed a woman holding a gun. She looked familiar and had long brown hair.

“Do you have it?”

“Have what? Get out of the way!” Jughead yelled.

“The necklace, you buffoons! Go back and get it!” He froze. It was the girl from the train. She had sat across from him on purpose. This was Ms Grundy, the music teacher. She had been following them this whole time.

“You had to dive to get here, so your gun is useless.”

“Actually, I’m a woman so you’ll find the island just let me in.” She gestured to her boat behind her. It was a lot smaller than the trio’s boat, and definitely not something to brag about. Jug cursed under his breath and the trio marched back to the village, keeping themselves hidden behind the trees, as Grundy stayed behind. To make sure no one escaped and took off with her boat.

The women were furious as they chanted over a fire, bringing life and power back into their leader on the same stone. Her right breast was removed. One does not have a village of only women without some sort of give, and it was the secret to immortality.

They snuck past her and into the temple. There were artifacts everywhere but Jug made sure they only took what they came for.

“Snakes, of course it had to be snakes.” The necklace was chains of gold with two snakes kissing in the middle of it. Jughead looked disgusted. It wasn’t that he was afraid of snakes, he just hated them. More accurately, he hated what they stood for. The final reason his parents did not last together was because his father was the leader of a gang called the Southside Serpents. Snakes were their calling card and he hated them ever since he found out the hard way- by walking in on his dad boxing a snake to give to someone as a threat.

There was no time for memories now, though, as the newly invigorated Hippolita smashed her way into the temple, eyes on fire.

“I told you that you do not want that. It will curse you all.” She bared her teeth and charged. Betty, having recovered from the cut but feeling the strength from the tip of the ceremony, threw her arm out causing the leader to fall down. The two charged at each other as the other women poured in. It became a free for all brawl with the women easily holding their own.

Kevin was barely hanging on. He kept taking a step back and soon he was outside, standing right on the stone. That sparked an idea and Jones booked it to the stone, slamming his dagger into the center and fracturing it, causing all the Amazons to cry out in agony and fade into dust. He wiped his brow.

“You’re welcome.” He grabbed the necklace and they took off back to the other side of the island.

And there she was with the gun, still waiting.

“You’re going to hand me that necklace and stay right where you are until I’m out of sight. Only then will you have permission to move.” She came up to Jug and tore it out of his hand, gun still pointed and eyeing everyone up suspiciously. She boarded her boat and took off.

She got about 20 feet when curiosity got the best of her and she put the necklace on. You could tell the moment it happened because a green light shot out from it and she screamed as her body was slowly morphed into that of a giant snake, much like it did to Harmonia before her. She slithered in a panic, causing the boat to capsize and for her to inevitably drown.

She was out of sight, so the three swam in the dawn out to their own boat. Upon arriving back in the city, Jughead made sure to bandage Elizabeth up.

“Let’s do that again,” she grinned. He put his hat back on.

“You and me doll, archeologist heroes. Maybe someday people will write myths about us.” He pulled her close to him and dived in for a kiss. Their story was the biggest news the Riverdale Registrar had ever seen, and the treasure was safely nestled in the bottom of the Aegean Sea in a place that had no reason to still exist.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on tumblr but I thought it would be fun to crosspost it here just because.  
> https://brownhairedbetty.tumblr.com/post/162682328698/archaeologist-jones


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